Louth students among largest cohort in country not registered to vote ahead of Presidential election

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

Young people are the largest demographic still not registered to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, according to An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s independent electoral commission, as it kicked off a campus roadshow at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Working alongside Louth County Council electoral register staff, and DkIT Students Union, An Coimisiún Toghcháin are encouraging students to register and vote in this year’s Presidential election on 24th October.

The Commission’s National Election & Democracy Study (NEDS) of the 2024 General Election found that the 18–34-year-olds surveyed made up the biggest cohort of eligible voters (68pc) who have yet to register and so missed the chance to vote in the most recent election.

The national campaign “to meet young people where they are, and to encourage them to use their voice to choose Ireland’s next President after Michael D. Higgins” saw An Coimisiún staff on campus at DkIT on Wednesday, September 24 as part of Freshers Week where they engaged with students, answered questions about voting and encouraged students to register at checktheregister.ie before the 7th October deadline.

The campaign advised students registered at their home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State that they are eligible to apply for a postal vote before the deadline of 29 September.

Art O’Leary, Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin highlighted how important these campus events are.

“Already during this Presidential election campaign we have met so many young people who are engaged, interested and want to use their votes to decide who will be our next President but who had questions about registration and voting.

“Dundalk IT students may not be aware that if they are away from their registered home address on polling day because of college, they can still apply to move their vote or apply for a postal vote.”

“Roughly 60,000 young people have turned 18 since the last general election and many of them are now college freshers. We look forward to meeting them and registering them to vote in their first ever election.”